


9 Poems

by ArtemisTheHuntress



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Poetry, poem, symbolic poetic forms for each character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:46:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22288108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtemisTheHuntress/pseuds/ArtemisTheHuntress
Summary: Nine poems.  One for each character from 999.  Each a different, established poetic form with the thematically-appropriate number of lines.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	9 Poems

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote these back in high school, shared them with friends and posted them on tumblr, who knows if I could find them again, haha. AO3 is an archive, right?

**Ace**

It was far too late when he saw the game’s true face.

**Snake**

He could forgive the game’s cruel whims, he learned,  
But he’d make sure his sister’s killer burned.

**Santa**

All she wanted was  
safety, justice, and her life -  
he’d get them for her

**Clover**

Well-equipped if not quite prepared for violence -  
Fierce and frightened, loyal and not quite stable -  
She would live, and (if anything should happen)  
Not shy from vengeance.

**Junpei**

There once was a guy named Junpei  
Who was having a terrible day.  
Drowned, axed, and stabbed  
After knocked out and grabbed  
By a girlfriend who then ran away.

**June**

She smiles as her eyes meet his,  
Ignores the burning in her brain,  
And notes how long the clock has ticked.  
Though they will learn that they’ve been tricked,  
Nine years of plans to stop the pain  
And save her life have led to this.

**Seven**

It was an order he knew well:  
_Obey the rules, and catch the perp,  
and don’t get killed._ But where

were they, and _who_ were they, and why  
was all his past a dizzy sea of black,  
left only with some migraines and suspicions? -

which should have been the first clue, looking back.

**Lotus**

She will not show, but in her eyes  
A regal gleam declares her part.  
Her will is fierce (though there’s surprise  
She will not show but in her eyes,  
And clever coldness that belies  
A caring mind and careful heart  
She will not show). But in her eyes,  
A regal gleam declares her part.

**The Ninth Man**

It has to be the worst way to go;  
Just when he thought he’d saved himself  
and would let the others hang,  
to metaphorically  
end with a whimper,  
literally  
then ending  
with a  
BANG

**Author's Note:**

> Ace - [Monostich](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monostich)  
> Snake - [Heroic couplet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroic_couplet)  
> Santa - [Haiku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku) (or, maybe more accurately, [senryū](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senry%C5%AB))  
> Clover - [Sapphic stanza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphic_stanza)  
> Junpei - [Limerick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick_\(poetry\))  
> June - [Sestet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sestet)  
> Seven - [Sevenling](http://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/sevenling/)  
> Lotus - [Triolet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triolet)  
> The Ninth Man - [Nonet](http://www.poetrydances.com/nonet.php)
> 
> I also wrote (co-wrote? hey J if you wrote the double-dactyl let me know I honestly forget but I found it in my google doc) some alternate poems in sillier but equally established forms:
> 
> **Lotus** ([double-dactyl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_dactyl), which are The Most Fun poetic form ever)
> 
> Nonary Nonary  
> Kashiwabara-san  
> Wasn’t the most altru-  
> istic, although,
> 
> Was first to point out that  
> Morphogenetically  
> They were all learning things  
> They shouldn’t know.
> 
> **Clover** ([clerihew](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerihew), the other most fun poetic form)
> 
> Clover Field  
> Proved sharply that she would never yield.  
> Having found her brother’s body with his stomach and chest blown hollow,  
> She ensured that everyone else would follow.


End file.
